Slaid Cleaves Still Fighting The War (Music Road Records) 4.5 out of 5 stars An album populated with gritty, dirt-under-nails songs about factory workers, war vets, union jobs, small town life and derailed dreams might make you think of Bruce Springsteen or James McMurtry or Steve Earle. It should make you think of Slaid Cleaves. […]

Slaid CleavesStill Fighting The War
(Music Road Records)
4.5 out of 5 stars

An album populated with gritty, dirt-under-nails songs about factory workers, war vets, union jobs, small town life and derailed dreams might make you think of Bruce Springsteen or James McMurtry or Steve Earle. It should make you think of Slaid Cleaves. One of the more underrated songwriters around, the New England-bred, Austin-based Cleaves has crafted an exceptional set of character studies on his new album, Still Fighting The War that rivals his better-known peers.

Opening this album is the title track, an unforgettable tale of a war vet, where Cleaves masterfully mixes sharply observed reportage with moments of poetry while never getting too politically heavy-handed. The way he captures the physical and emotional scars that vets deal with (“Men go off to war for a hundred reasons/But they all come home with the same demons) speaks with a Woody Guthrie-like universality. This Guthrie-like quality also surfaces later in the disc when he tackles religion in “Go For The Gold” (which he previously recorded on his live Sorrow and Smoke CD).

Cleaves’ portraits of blue-collar life are packed with real life details and memorable couplets. “Rust Belt Fields,” which addresses how American workers are struggling as factory jobs have gone overseas, concludes with the observation: “No one gets a bonus/for bloody knuckles and scars/No one remembers your name/Just for working hard.” In “Welding Burns,” a son, who didn’t want to work in a Navy Yard like his father did, comes to admit: “I always thought I’d get away/I thought I could rise above/I don’t remember anymore/What I was dreaming of.”

With “Gone,” Cleaves expertly essays a couple’s entire life in just over three minutes. The song moves effortlessly from the two being schoolyard sweethearts through marriage and into the wife’s senility, all neatly tied together with the increasingly poignant phrase: “there she was, gone.” The sparely arranged “Without Her” is another wonderfully concise song (just under three minutes) that concerns a man struggling after his love has gone – either due to death or some other type of departure – and confessing that “Every night I lie awake/I’m overcome/I’m undone, without her.”

Not all of Cleaves’ songs end in sadness and disappointment, even if they start that way. The small-town tale “Hometown USA” starts like an anti-“Born To Run,” with a girl who failed at being a star stuck back home in her small town and a guy who found foreclosure not success out on the range; however, the two wind up falling in love with each other.

The jaunty “Whim of Iron” resembles a Todd Snider or Hayes Carll tune as it uses wry humor to tells its colorful story of a strong-willed woman who rises from nothing to became a successful Maine politician. Cleaves’ reveals his lighter-side in his tongue-twisting tribute to his adopted state, “Texas Love Song.” Texas also figures large in “God’s Own Yodeler,” Cleaves’ salute to the music legend, Don Walser.

Cleaves and his trio of talented producers (Scrappy Jud Newcomb, Lloyd Maines and Mark Hallman) keep the album grounded in a sound that emphasizes his lyrical prowess and friend-on-a-barstool vocals. The arrangements stay on the straightforward side, although Newcomb adds some appropriate industrial (as in factory sounds) textures to “Rust Belt Fields” while horns underscore the sense of loss in “Without Her.”

If Cleaves’ low-key approach has kept him under-the-radar, he deserves a higher profile. His keen insights into human nature and today’s America are revealed in melodic, deeply-felt tunes on Still Fighting The War, which ranks as one of the year’s best singer-songwriter albums.

(Janis Martin) Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis. These names come quickly to mind when thinking of the original rockabilly greats. Besides these pioneering kings, however, there were several women who were rocking it with the boys back in the day. Coincidentally, this autumn sees new releases from the two preeminent rockabilly queens: Wanda […]

Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis. These names come quickly to mind when thinking of the original rockabilly greats. Besides these pioneering kings, however, there were several women who were rocking it with the boys back in the day. Coincidentally, this autumn sees new releases from the two preeminent rockabilly queens: Wanda Jackson and Janis Martin. Jackson’s Justin Townes Earle-produced Unfinished Business comes out October 9 on Sugar Hill, while The Blanco Sessions represents Martin’s last recordings, which Rosie Flores produced in 2007 less than five months before Martin’s death.

Of the two, Jackson is the better-known performer. From the mid-Fifties through the early Sixties, she scored a number of hit singles, like “Fujiyama Mama” and “Let’s Have A Party.” She also toured with Elvis Presley and was rumored to have dated him for him briefly. In the Seventies, she turned to religion but never fully retired from music. Jackson has experienced a major comeback in the past years, getting elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2009), receiving the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award (2010) and having Jack White produce her The Party Ain’t Over CD (2011).

Janis Martin also started rock ‘n’ rolling in the mid-Fifties, with her first 1956 single “Drugstore Rock ‘n Roll” probably being her biggest hit. Dubbed the “female Elvis,” she even recorded a tune “My Boy Elvis.” Despite being named Billboard’s Most Promising Female Vocalist, Martin’s music career basically ended in 1960 after she got married and became a mother while still a teen. She popped back up on the rockabilly radar in the mid-Eighties when the fine German reissue label Bear Family compiled a Martin collection (her complete recordings only amounted to 30 tracks). Her profile rose higher when she appeared on Flores’ 1995 Rockabilly Filly album, which also featured a guest spot from Wanda Jackson, with whom Flores later toured.

Besides the Presley and Flores connections, Martin and Jackson also shared a feistiness that was rare to see in female musicians in the Fifties. Earle, in a phone conversation, used the term “a good girl with a dirty voice” to described Jackson, while also talking about the “raw sexuality” in Jackson’s music. Flores, meanwhile, asserted that Jackson “was the first to break out of the demure chick singer mold” and that Martin drew Elvis comparisons “because of her energetic wiggling around and her spark for that music that was born out of the hillbilly country style that married rhythm and blues. Janis…certainly loved to shake it up!”

(Wanda Jackson and Justin Townes Earle)

Both Earle and Flores have done a great production jobs in showcasing Jackson and Martin on these new CDs as women who can still rock. First time producer Earle revealed that his guiding principal was to keep in mind “how will this work for Wanda.” He called her “one of the famous voices of all time” so he wanted the backing musicians to be “behind Wanda, not playing on top of her.” He admitted that the actual recording session came out quickly, which he found to be an advantage because “sometimes over-thinking is it own worst enemy.”

Earle was successfully in creating a comfortable recording environment to let Jackson do her thing. It’s hard to imagine a 70-something singer sounding more spirited and youthful than Jackson does here, whether she’s doing a girl group-style version of Etta James’ “Pushover” or dreamy Western rendition of the Woody Guthrie/Jeff Tweedy tune “California Skies.”

Jackson, in an email, praised Earle’s work. “We got along fabulously,” adding “Justin already had a pretty clear idea of what he thought would be good for me to record. And, I agreed with all of his choices.” Earle, meanwhile, said that Jackson and her husband/manager Wendell Goodman brought in around 20 songs that they were interested in and he tried to make sure that they didn’t play it too safe.

The songs that stand as Jackson’s favorites are the rollicking roadhouse rocker “I’m Tore Down” (made famous by Freddie King) and “What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome,” a Justin Townes Earle tune. “When I heard it I liked it immediately,” Jackson revealed. “It’s been so long since I have recorded a straight ahead country song and I really got a kick out of singing it.” It’s Jackson’s wonderful voice that powers Unfinished Business for, as Earle proclaimed, “she is a goddamn good live singer.”

Listening to Janis Martin’s equally as vibrant singing on The Blanco Sessions it is remarkable to consider that she was just months away from dying of lung cancer. Even though she hadn’t recorded an album in decades, Martin displays a robust voice, full of character and vitality, on what turned out sadly to be her final recording sessions.

Like Earle did on Unfinished Business, Flores and her co-producer, drummer Bobby Trimble, assembled a terrific set of songs for Martin to perform. While the CD projects a rockabilly vibe, the songs range from Bill Monroe’s Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine” to “As Long As I’m Movin’,” which was made famous by R&B icon Ruth Brown (an idol of Martin’s).

Flores and Trimble spent a lot of time searching for tunes for Martin to sing. She revealed that she asked Martin to write some songs but Martin was interested in “rocking out and finding cover songs that she loved singing,” according to Flores. “Roll Around Rockin’,” a beach music nugget, was a tune that Martin brought to the sessions, while Ronnie Dawson’s fun rocker “Wham Bam Jam” was a Trimble idea that “just fit her perfect,” in Flores’ words. “Sweet Dreams,” long associated with Patsy Cline, was Flores’ choice because “I thought she sang it better than Patsy Cline.” However, Flores stated that Martin’s version of the Blasters’ “Long White Cadillac” probably is her favorite track because “she pours everything she’s got into her vocals.”

The release of The Blanco Sessions (Sept. 18th), signals the long-awaited realization of a dream for Flores. Ever since hearing Martin sing in 1995 for her Rockabilly Filly album, Flores had wanted to do a whole album with her. “I was blown away by how strong her voice still was,” Flores recalled. It took Flores over a decade to finally get Martin in the studio and happily she still sang with soul and power. After Martin’s sudden death, Flores made it her mission to get the album out and it took another five years filled with label rejections before she finally is releasing the record herself thanks to a Kickstarter campaign.

Although Flores has her own successful career (and a new album Working Girl’s Guitar), she is wants to continue to build Martin’s legacy and will feature Martin songs in her concerts. Flores also plans to tour some with fellow rockabilly songstress (and Martin fan) Marti Brom. “It’s going to be a blast and I can’t wait to get out there and rock with Marti in Janis’ spirit.

Jackson, who last year was Adele’s special opening act, will also be performing this fall, including an October 12th New York City concert coming days after the Oct. 9th release of Unfinished Business, her 31st album. When asked what she likes about making music now, Jackson replied, with a laugh, “I like the fact that I can still can!”

Woody Guthrie Centennial Concert Club Nokia, Los Angeles April 14, 2012 Some shows you go in knowing how they will end before they even begin. Take the Woody Guthrie Centennial Concert. You know that was going to end with the various performers coming out and leading the audience in a rendition of “This Land Is […]

Some shows you go in knowing how they will end before they even begin. Take the Woody Guthrie Centennial Concert. You know that was going to end with the various performers coming out and leading the audience in a rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.” Even though the finale was a foregone conclusion, it still wound up being a very moving moment (more on that later) and the show that preceded it was far from a predictable concert experience.

This final event in a week of Guthrie-related activities organized by the Grammy Museum (which is also helping to stage Guthrie centennial events around the world this year), began with a recitation by actor Ronny Cox of Woody Guthrie’s writing and then Sarah Lee Guthrie (Woody’s granddaughter) and his husband/musical partner Johnny Irion kicked off the concert with one of Guthrie’s “new hits,” “California Stars” (from the Mermaid Avenue project) and then performed “Union Maid,” a song they said “can still get you in trouble singing today.”

One of the reoccurring themes of the concert was the timeless quality of Guthrie’s music – how the mighty continue to abuse their authority and the powerless often still are oppressed. Joe Henry, in his short set of New York City-set songs, commented that Guthrie’s songs “comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable” before launching into the “Jesus Christ,” a parable whose influence on Bob Dylan could be easily seen.

The young Southern California country-rock Dawes plugged in for lively renditions of “Hard Travelin’” and “Dust Bowl Refugee.” On the latter tune, they were joined by Jackson Browne, for whom they have served as his backing band. After stating how Guthrie has “an impact still on music today,” the band performed their sociologically-charged original “A Little Bit Of Everything” that illustrated their point.

Ex-X man John Doe ambled on stage to do “some dust bowl stuff.” He started with a slow, bluesy take on “Vigilante Man” and then singer Cindy Wasserman joined Doe and guitarist Val McCallum for hot hootenanny renditions of “Do Re Me” and “So Long It’s Been Good To Know You,” which made them seem like an alternative world version of Peter, Paul and Mary.

Van Dyke Parks appeared next, sitting at the piano and putting his signature artful twist to “Pastures of Plenty” (a song he said he learned in 1962) with the nimble help of bassist Rob Wasserman and drummer Don Heffington. Former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello played “Tom Joad” alone on his acoustic guitar before bringing out his band, the Freedom Fighter Orchestra, for an electric version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Ghost of Tom Joad.” Their powerful performance, fueled by Morello’s fiery guitar solo, led to the night’s first standing ovation. Morello then had many of the preceding acts come out to be his “choir of angels” for “Ease My Revolutionary Mind,” a Guthrie lyric he turned into a song for the Note Of Hope project. This political love ballad, which sounded like Leonard Cohen on a punk rock bender, closed to the first half of the concert in rousing fashion.

After intermission, Grammy Museum executive director Robert Santelli introduced Woody’s first wife, Mary Guthrie from the stage. The 90-something woman spoke briefly to the appreciative crowd, stating that “Woody probably wouldn’t object to her substituting for him.” Cox returned to recite another Guthrie quotation, which urged people “to sing your songs, take pride in yourself and your work.”

Singer-songwriter Joel Raphael did two songs “Ramblin’ Reckless Hobo” and “Your Sandal String” which were from albums he had done based on Guthrie lyrics. His original “Sierra Blanca Massacre,” about the tragic deaths of undocumented Mexican immigrants in 1987, led nicely into the similarly themed Guthrie classic “Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos),” done with Graham Nash and Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson remained on stage to do his original “Here Comes That Rainbow Again,” which he said was inspired by Woody Guthrie, and then he brought out Joe Henry for the Guthrie tune, “Ramblin’ Round.”

One of the cool things about this concert what the collaborative nature of the performances – how the musicians (like Jackson Browne and Graham Nash) sang with other acts. Nash, in fact, wound up doing only one song on his own undoubtedly because his musical partner David Crosby was sidelined by an illness (his absence was mentioned only on flyers by the box office, not from the stage). However, Nash’s one contribution was a memorable one – a recently written original that railed against the U.S. government’s treatment of arrested American solider Bradley Manning. It was one of the many political references (many of them touching on the Occupy movement) that occurred during the night.

Jackson Browne started his set with a song that more personal than political. “You Know The Night,” another song from the Note Of Hope compilation, was based on a poetic letter Guthrie wrote this second wife Marjorie. While a bit rambling, it fit nicely into Browne’s style and he was nicely aided by the backing voices of Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. Browne then brought out guitarist Blake Mills and Val McCallum to ignite “Which Side Are You On,” into an Occupy-era rallying cry rocker.

That song’s standing ovation carried over to the arrival of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott to the stage. The Guthrie protégé, resplendent in a bright red cowboy shirt, was as feisty as ever as he requested that the distracting teleprompter be turned out, saying “I’ve been singing this song for 60 years.” The octogenarian’s voice held up well as he performed “1913 Massacre” and “Pretty Boy Floyd.” Both of the songs showcased Guthrie’s genius for injecting a common story (a family Christmas or an outlaw tale) with a political dimension that lifts it to another level without being heavy-handed about it.

Sarah Lee Guthrie returned to the stage with Irion, who spoke how Guthrie wanted to be remembered “as the guy who told you what you already knew.” Irion lent his Neil Young-voice to “Another Man’s Done Gone,” a Wilco Mermaid Avenue number. While Nash, Raphael and Browne joined them for the self-described “risqué” tune “There’ll Be No Church Tonight,” Woody’s daughter Nora (one of the show’s organizers) danced on the side of the stage with Morello.

All the performers assembled on stage for “Bound For Glory,” which lead into “This Land Is Your Land.” Sarah Lee, appropriately enough, lead off the song, with Jackson Browne, Joe Henry, Van Dyke Parks and Kris Kristofferson all taking turns with the verses on this uplifting, extended version. You could see the joy on Kristofferson’s face during this performance. Tom Morello took the microphone and took charge of wrapping up the song and show. Demanding that the house light be turned up, he got the whole crowd to sing along on this “alternative national anthem.” Morello was like an agitprop ringmaster as he exhorting that “the wheels of history in (our) hands,” as the show came to a rousing conclusion.

Beyond being a glorious celebration of the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth, the concert had several other consequences. It served as a reminder of how relevant Guthrie’s music remains today. The social injustices that he spoke out again then still ring true today. Moreover, the concert showed what a terrific job Nora Guthrie has down over the years in opening up the Guthrie archives and connecting musicians of today with Woody’s words, which all results in keeping his legacy very much alive 100 years after his birth and 45 years after his death.

Good Old War Come Back As Rain (Sargent House) Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars There’s a pure simplicity to Good Old War’s music that’s hard to resist. The band builds its lovely acoustic-based music out of gorgeous harmonies, gently-played guitars and light percussion. The opening track offers a perfect example of what Good Old […]

Good Old WarCome Back As Rain
(Sargent House)Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

There’s a pure simplicity to Good Old War’s music that’s hard to resist. The band builds its lovely acoustic-based music out of gorgeous harmonies, gently-played guitars and light percussion.

The opening track offers a perfect example of what Good Old War does so well. “Over and Over” serves up airy vocals, strummy acoustic guitars and the pattering of percussions. Even though the song is about a failing relationship, there is such a vitality to the performances that the tune seems like an upbeat number. The trio of Keith Goodwin, Tim Arnold and Daniel Schwartz (who use parts of their surnames to form the band’s name) achieves this winning blend of catchy, harmony-rich acoustic music numerous times throughout this disc. “Calling Me Names,” for instance, is a hooky slice of folk pop, while the twangy “It Hurts Every Time” rates as another stand out.

The group has drawn some comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Still, Nash and Young and traces of the former can be heard in “Can’t Go Home” and the latter in “Better Weather.” Good Old War’s music also holds elements of English folk-rock (“It Hurts Every Times” recalls Del Amitri) and Australian/New Zealand bands like Paul Kelly and Crowded House (“Loud Love”). Their sound occasionally does get a bit too soft. “Amazing Eyes” conjures up memories of the overly laidback ’70 country-pop band Firefall and the tune also reveals the trio’s tendency to sometimes repeat lyrics. The album’s closer “Present At The End Of The World,” on the other hand, wraps up the album on a high note, ranking as the most exuberant vision of the apocalypse since R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”

With this impressive album of wonderfully melodic music, the band joins the growing ranks of harmony-based folk-rock outfits like the Fleet Foxes and the Civil Wars.

Kevin Gordon Gloryland Crowville Collective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Gloryland, Gordon’s first album since 2005, serves as a reminder to what a wonderful writer he is. There’s a powerful literary quality to his songs (he’s a published poet) that often feels like short stories brought to life with music. The two standout tracks, […]

Gloryland, Gordon’s first album since 2005, serves as a reminder to what a wonderful writer he is. There’s a powerful literary quality to his songs (he’s a published poet) that often feels like short stories brought to life with music. The two standout tracks, “Colfax/Step In Time” and “Bus To Shreveport,” are excellent examples of Southern fiction. The former, which runs over 10 minutes, recalls Gordon’s time in a Southern high school marching band, which was led by a black man. The tune turns from colorful memories to something more serious when the Klan arrives (“in their white dunce caps”) with a chilling effect. “Bus To Shreveport,” another coming-of-age tale, concerns a wild roadtrip, when at age 12 he went to go see a ZZ Top concert (“at the worst sounding arena in the whole United States”) with his uncle Randy and his uncle’s buddy Hank. Again, the story takes a dangerous turn with Hank getting beaten up by several Latino guys until Randy scares them off with a pistol.

This disc is populated with vivid tales that Gordon delivers with a dark twist. “Side of the Road” starts with a simple childhood memory of seeing a field of white cotton but ends up taking the listener to the perilous roadsides of war-torn regions like Baghdad and Basra. “Trying To Get To Memphis” floats along on an easy soulful groove that masks the song’s underlying modern day dilemma – can you trust the stranger who comes to your door with a hard-luck story? Gordon, with some regrets, sides with the neighborhood watch captain’s more fearful advice over Jesus’ sense of altruism.

Moments of lightness do appear in the prominently dark-hued Gloryland. The “Pecolia’s Star” offers a gentle ode to the African American folk artist Pecolia Warner, while “The One I Love,” wraps up the disc on an upbeat note. This rousing rocker reaffirms the power of love, particularly in today’s times where people “got no say in how this big world runs.” This song also reinforces how Gordon nicely uses his rugged Southern roots rock arrangements to underscore the drama of his lyrics. A track like “Black Dog, ” for instance, builds to a guitar squall that fits the turbulent story.

Gordon’s vocals frequently bring to mind another sharp-eyed songwriter, the late Warren Zevon. There’s also a hint of Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” when Gordon intones “You might be a preacher” in the opening lines of the title track, while the bleak American portraits recall Springsteen too. While these singer-songwriters serve as touchstones, Gordon definitely shines here as a writer who tells these Southern-based tales so exquisitely that they resonate with his listeners (be they from the South or not). Gloryland certainly stands as a glorious example of Americana songwriting.

Matthew RyanI Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall
(matthewryan.bandcamp.com)Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Over his past few releases, singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan has been experimenting with setting his intimate songs with folk-tronic arrangements and the spare music accompaniment works well with Ryan’s raw lyrics. WhileI Recallretains his earlier records’ moody, melancholic vibe, his songs here feel a bit more observational than the highly personal offerings on his last disc, Dear Lover.

Ryan’s elliptical lyrics, suggesting grabbed snippets of conversations done in bedrooms, bar rooms, parking lots and city streets, reveal characters who often seem to be searching for connections. In his opening song, “The Sea,” he sings “I took the stage/to talk to you/but you weren’t there” and in “Song For A Friend” he reminisces about a faded friendship while he now wades “in the flood of loneliness.” Several songs also address troubled relationships – “My Darker Side,” “I Still Believe In You,” and “All Of That Means Nothing Now” (which creates an evocative scene of a disintegrating couple outside of a supermarket), although he offers a bit of hopefulness (at least in Ryan’s world) in “Summer In The South,” where he admits that “I wanna to know what it’s like to live with you.” The moving “I Don’t Want A Third World War,” moreover, could be seen as a relationship tune but it’s more a political plea; a plea made more explicit in “I Want Peace.”

There is a hypnotic effect to Ryan’s combination of hushed vocals, understated electronic beats and repeated lyrics that amplifies the songs’ haunted qualities. However, this approach also lends itself to creating a certain sameness to the songs, with the programmed drum beats linking one muted tune to the next. One reason the “Harmonium Song” stands out is that the stripped-down track features just Ryan playing a harmonium. It also contains truly heartbreaking lyrics – spoken by a man about his now-dead brother – which makes a strong impact on the listeners. Another memorable tune, “Here Comes The Snow,” projects a warm, organic tone that somewhat recalls Dylan’s “Vision of Johanna.”

The tensions that he builds in the music simmer a little too long without enough release points. While an engaging synth line percolates through “Hey Kid” and an electric guitar punctuates the romantic ruins of “All Of That Means Nothing Now,” it is only on the closing track, “All Hail The Kings of Trash,” that Ryan raises his voice above a whisper and generates some energy accompanying himself on guitar.

While Ryan’s bedroom laptop-folk music can get claustrophobic, his fractured tales of troubled souls hold a dark allure.

They Might Be GiantsJoin Us
Idlewild/RounderRating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

After concentrating mostly on creating family music recently, They Might Be Giants have returned with just their second “adult” album in the last six years. While there is plenty of cartoon whimsy in everything that TMBG does, their “adult” music allows them to explore darker themes (both “Old Pine Box” and “When Will You Die” deal with death) and use more adult language (you wouldn’t find a line like “All the dicks in this dick town” in one of their children’s album). In fact, even educated adults might get lost in the Giant’s mighty vocabulary. Cephalophores? Canajoharie? Cloisonné? (sculptures in which a saint holding its head, a small New York town, and an ancient way of decorating metalwork, in case you are wondering).

However, you don’t have to fully understand all of TMBG’s lyrics to enjoy their wonderfully off-kilter arty pop. Art, in fact, is particularly present on this disc, with references to the film (“Protagonist”), literature (“Spoiler Alert”) and art worlds (“Three Might Be Duende”). “Duende” also best exemplifies TMBG’s love of wordplay. The title plays off of the band’s name and the tune includes malapropos-y phrases like “Necropolis Blownapart” and “Apocryphal Espadrille.” The catchy and kooky dance-floor ditty “Celebration” namedrops artists Banksy and Hieronymus Bosch.

The Giants’ twisted lyrics generally make for fun listening, but their words’ occasionally reach-for-the-dictionary obscurity can be distracting. Some of the disc’s most memorable tunes wind up as the ones that also are the most lyrically direct. “Judy Is Your Viet Nam” delivers a quick flashback, complete with big guitar riffs, to the New Wave ‘80s. “Never Knew Love” and “You Don’t Like Me” provides nice bookends of relationship/non-relationship songs. The former, with a Cars-like guitar line, offers TMBG’s version of heartfelt sentiment (“I go around thinking I’m a genius/But I never knew love could like this”), while the latter serves up an amusing list of examples why a relationship isn’t meant to be (“You like cigarettes, swimming laps, potato chips, Battleship, cats, and Court TV”).

Besides the band’s signature quirky lyrics, Join Us also retains its well-known staccato guitar and keyboard interplay as well as a tendency for crazy-quilt arrangements. “In Fact,” for example, incorporates a jazzy trumpet, a rubberband beat and Mexican horns, while “Dog Walker” contrasts a heavy musical sound with cartoon-like processed vocals. Similarly, the barbed sentiment of “When Will You Die” is undercut by the highly caffeinated horn-fueled arrangement that recalls a TV crime story soundtrack.

While Join Us might not reach the exhilarating absurdist pop height of “Ana Ng” or “Don’t Let’s Start,” it comes fully stocked with a fresh supply of TMBG’s delightfully hooky weirdness.

The 6th annual ASCAP Expo got musicians and songwriters out of the dark clubs and into the light for 3 days of check out panels, do some schmoozing and even hear a little music. The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel served as host from April 28-30 to attendees from around the globe. Over 2,500 badges were handed […]

The 6th annual ASCAP Expo got musicians and songwriters out of the dark clubs and into the light for 3 days of check out panels, do some schmoozing and even hear a little music. The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel served as host from April 28-30 to attendees from around the globe. Over 2,500 badges were handed out to folks coming from 42 states and 14 countries.

(Van Dyke Parks, Rufus Wainwright. All Photos by PictureGroup)

This year’s theme was “I Create Music,” and the opening panel certainly featured two creative musicians: legendary songwriter/producer Van Dyke Parks and clever singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The two go way back – Parks helped Wainwright get his first record deal – and it showed in their fun rapport together. The sagacious Parks shared stories from his long career, revealing how he turned down joining the Byrds because he “didn’t want to be screamed at” by ardent concert-goers and that Randy Newman impressed him with the battle plan he had to create story-songs and avoided “the problem of self-revelation.” While Parks proclaimed that America totally succeeded in exporting rock around the world, he said his interests run to indigenous roots music, like calypso. He suggested that songwriters “go everywhere you need to go to be inspired,” adding that “individuality is a case that should be made in music.”

Wainwright jokingly explained that one reason he likes opera is because “you don’t understand a damn thing.” He believes that high culture now offers a “bit of a refuge – (where there’s) music for music’s sake.” He described himself as “an unholy alliance” between his father’s (Loudon Wainwright III) and mother’s (Kate McGarrigle) songwriting styles – Loudon being more mechanical/analytical and Kate being spiritual. However, he also talked about being inspired by Nina Simone’s music; he loves the way she welded classical sensibilities and pop flair, “and not to be afraid of being too dark or too depressing.”

Both men played a couple songs at the piano. Parks performed an old calypso tune, “Roosevelt In Trinidad,” which revealed his historical, observational approach to music. Wainwright, meanwhile, shared his more personal song, “Martha,” about dealing with his mother’s ultimately losing battle with cancer. He revealed that “songwriting was the only option” to deal with that emotional situation.

(Rodney Crowell)

One great thing about the Expo was it let participants get to the pick the brains of acclaimed songwriters. At a Thursday “master session” with Nashville songwriter titan Rodney Crowell, the audience got to ask him questions for over an hour. He talked about how he got his start in Nashville after being befriended by Guy Clark, Mickey Newbury and Townes Van Zandt. After joking that what he learned from Van Zandt was to “stay away from heroin,” Crowell rhapsodized how Van Zandt could form a “liquid combination of music and language, with no holes in works.” He also commented that today’s country music could be smarter, stating that Kris Kristofferson “aimed for the A students in Bixoli, but D students got it too.”

Crowell admitted that as he has gotten older, he has become more conscious of technique and labeled some of his early hits as poorly written. While he is “grateful for the early broad bursts of inspiration” of his youth, he now finds that he wants to get more specific in his songwriting. His goal is to have all rhymes be hard rhymes. When someone asked about getting bogged down trying to make a song perfect, Crowell responded that, “perfection is a great thing as long as you know that you can’t achieve it.” He later proclaimed that “if I tell a song what I want it to be, it’s not as good as when the song tells me,” adding that songwriters should “find the language of (their) heart.” He recommended that writer be honest with their work and be a good self-editor. At the session’s end, he was asked what song he wished he had written, he performed Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty,” and got the audience to sing along with him.

Also valuable for aspiring songwriters were the Song Feedback Panels. For both the Pop/Rock and Country sessions, a panel of industry pros listened to eight different pre-selected songs and then offered their critiques to the songwriters in the audience. The Pop/Rock Panel (songwriter/producer David “DQ” Quinones, producer/composer Scott Jacoby, BMG VP Suzan Koc and musician/Universal Music VP Jennifer Blakeman) offered a nice, diverse perspective for songwriters. For a song written for a soundtrack Kuc shared how there is “no junior league” for soundtrack writing; “it must be as high quality as possible.” Quinones, meanwhile, offered more general advice that sometimes “a chorus works better as a verse” so songwriters really need to examine their lyrics. Regarding another song, Blakeman urged lyricists to make the extra effort to “find lines that create ‘chill bomb’” for listeners.

ASCAP’s LeAnn Phelan moderated the Country Song Feedback Panel, which featured producer/songwriter Ben Glover, singer-songwriter Jonathan Singleton, songwriter/record exec Chris DuBois and Big Machine A&R VP Allison Jones. Curiously, the songs selected here weren’t particularly country tunes, so the comments wound up being made for the country market and more general songwriting. In praising one song, DuBois stated that lyrics were worth extra work and recommended that songwriters “write so there are no questions for listeners.” Glover, responding to another tune, stated that songwriters need their tunes to be memorably enough to connect with the busy mom listening in her car. In general, the panelists offered suggestions about hitting the chorus more quickly, to question whether a bridge is needed for the song and, as Jones remarked, “to craft something deeply personal yet universal.”

DuBois was also part of the Indie Music Publishers Panel, which let songwriters hear from a range of executives on what they are looking for. Moderator Brendan Okrent from ASCAP started off with the smart, but sometimes overlooked, advice of researching the publishing companies and their personnel before you contact them, to see if you are a good fit. Dubois shared that it is important, particularly in Nashville (where young songwriters are teamed with more established ones), for “new writers to show up prepared.” He also revealed that in country performers nowadays are brought in to finish writing a song – “Nashville is now more artist-driven.” Disney Music’s Barbara Vander Linde commented that writers “often write for where an artist has been, not where they should go,” and echoed statements from other panels that writers should let a song go where it wants to go.

Justin Kalifowitz (president of Downtown Music Publishing) talked about how a young songwriter impressed him creating songs for him overnight. Peermusic’s Sam Kling advised songwriters to be persistent while also projecting that you’re someone who’s easy to work with. Vander Linde similarly stated that songwriters must be flexible and have thick skins while reminding everyone that “publishers are only as good as what writers give them.” Tom DeSavia, a VP at Notable Music, added the practical advice of “putting your best foot forward” when you contact a publisher and send only a song or two, not 60. All the panelists agreed that it’s helpful and wise for songwriters to make things convenient for publishers (like putting your contact info on your CD and adding your songs to Gracenote database) because publishers have little time to listen to new material.

The Expo also attracted top talent to its big “Create Music” discussions held in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom. The room was packed on Thursday afternoon for the “We Create Music” Panel featuring the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie, hit songwriter Claudia Brant, producer/songwriters Mike Elizondo and Kevin Rudolf and musician/composer Trevor Rabin. It was entertaining, as well as informative, to hear about how this quintet started out, how they achieved their various successes and what lessons they had to share. Elizondo, for example, stated that, as producer, he is willing to do what it take to make a recording session succeed, from being a musician to playing a psychologist, while Brant said she likes to spend time with an artist before starting work with them. Fergie, meanwhile, admitted that she regrets not learning to play the piano, or Spanish, when she had the opportunity to when she was younger.

(Lindsay Buckingham, Sara Bareilles)

On Friday, Lindsay Buckingham was presented with ASCAP’s Golden Note Award. After a tribute montage spotlighting his years with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, he sat down for an interview done by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles. Bareilles, who admitted to being a little intimated at the prospect of this interview, led an engaging, interesting conversation with Buckingham to a full room. He revealed coming to songwriting on the late side, not really starting until he was 21 or 22 when Buckingham/Nicks formed. He called solo music-making as a very zen, subconscious process, “like a painting,” while working with a band as “like a movie” – a more conscious and more political process. Buckingham described, probably not for the first time, Fleetwood Mac as “five people who don’t belong to be in a band together, but that’s what made it so great.”

In talking about his time in Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham quoted Nietzche’s famous line: “what doesn’t kills us makes us stronger.” Besides being applicable to his Mac tenure, it can also summarize life as a musician. However, events like the ASCAP Expo can make songwriters and musicians more knowledge about their careers and, hopefully, make this life less of a struggle.

Richard X. HeymanTiers/ And Other Stories
(Turn-Up)Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Power Pop fans probably will recognize Heyman’s name for his well-received but not commercially successful albums he did in the late’80s and early ‘90s. Although rather quiet over the last decade, he has returned in a big way: A 31-song, double-disc concept project. The first disc, Tiers, looks back at his courtship of his now-wife as well as his search for rock stardom in Los Angeles, while the second disc, Other Stories, offers – as the name suggests – other stories from his life.

Heyman crafts a very full sound on this home studio effort, on which he plays 20 instruments. The first thing long-time fans will notice, however, is that his main instrument here is the piano, not the guitar. As a result, he sounds like a far less astringent Warren Zevon with some touches of Randy Newman and Brian Wilson on this disc.

Despite this stylistic shift, Heyman still retains is a fine sense of pop craftsmanship, with this 2-disc set is dotted with marvelously melodic tunes. On the Tiers side, the standouts include the twangy tune, “Good To Go” and the upbeat travelogue “Fire In The Country.” With “One Thing I Still Have,” one of the rare guitar-flavored tracks, he serves up a sunny Sixties-style love ode while “Golden In This Town” is a soulful, somewhat Stevie Winwood-like number.

“Game Stays The Same” reveals some of the project’s strengths and weaknesses. This buoyant Brian Wilson-esque song about L.A., the song also contains a spoken word reading of a letter that Heyman wrote to his girlfriend, which comes off feeling somewhat awkward and overly personal. In fact, the disc often feels too much a personal story. For example, “The Real Deal,” about trying to make it as a musician, is weighed down by too much exposition.

The second disc similarly contains some top-flight tunes as well as some (mostly the more orchestral pop ballads) that fade into the background. Tracks like “When Willy Played Guitar” (honoring to a now-deceased old friend/bandmate) and the uptempo “Branded In The Sky” stand out among the Other Stories, with “No Time To Rest On Sunday” and “The Day Before Tomorrow” also being strong efforts. One of the most moving tracks is “The Finish Line,” a song about morality that ranks up with Warren Zevon’s best songs. A Zevon flavor also can be heard in songs like “Hustler’s Land Stand,” “Everyone’s Moving In The Wrong Direction,” and “There’s A Train” but Heyman display a gentler touch with the material.

There’s no denying that this double-disc piece is an ambitious effort, and while sometimes his ambitions get the better of him, Heyman shows that he still is a talented pop tunesmith.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honey BearsScandalous
Lost HighwayRating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears’ 2009 Lost Highway debut Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! delivered an eye-opening blast of vintage rock ‘n’ soul that drew upon Sixties influences like James Brown, Stax Records and Sly Stone. The band’s follow-up Scandalous might lack the debut’s element of surprise but it retains the band’s exuberant retro-rooted groove of fierce funk, gritty soul, country blues and roadhouse rock and roll.

A blare of Stax-y horns and a funky guitar lick fuels the energetic opening track “Livin’ In The Jungle.” “Booty City” and “Black Snake” continue the dance party mood, and it’s easy to imagine how well these sweaty little numbers – both of which clock in under 3:05 on disc – in concert. The track “So Scandalous” especially showcases the band’s strengths. This slinky yet tough tale about a tawdry woman combines a potent beat, soulful horns and rockin’ guitars to create a powerful, dramatic song. There’s drama of another kind in “Mustang Ranch,” a ribald, rowdy account of the band’s stop at the infamous Nevada brothel. Like “Master Sold My Baby” on Tell ‘Em, “Messin’” is old school country blues that feels from a bygone era while “You Been Lyin’” stands as a rousing Sly and the Family-style workout.

The thoroughly engaging Scandalous certainly satisfying one’s hunger for some stick-to-your-ribs rock ‘n’ soul music. The band, however, seems approaching a crossroads. They definitely demonstrate their skills at successfully reviving these retro sounds but they are still striving to find their own special voice. On “Since I Met You Baby,” for example, they interestingly infuse a slow-burning soul shouter with some mariachi-ish horns and stinging guitars solos. By moving out of the past, they hint at maybe where their future lays.